Question

UPA stands for__________.
A.United Power Association
B.United Professional Alliance
C.United Progressive Alliance
D.United Progression Alliance

Answer 1

Hint: One of the most dominant features of Indian democracy is the multi-party system which means that there are a large number of parties competing to attain power both at the national and state level. In such a system, it is often difficult for a single party to obtain an absolute majority to win the specified number of seats required to form the government. Therefore, political parties cooperate to form a coalition or an alliance of sorts to form the government. The leader of the coalition with the maximum seats in the Lok Sabha goes on to become the Prime Minister while the leader of the coalition with the maximum seats in the State Legislative Assembly goes on to become the Chief Minister of that state.

Complete step by step solution:
Option A: United Power Association is incorrect.
Option B: United Professional Alliance is incorrect.
Option C: United Progressive Alliance is correct. It was formed after the 2004 Lok Sabha General Elections and is headed by the Indian National Congress which is the largest party in the coalition. The UPA coalition went on to win the 2004 and the 2009 Lok Sabha General Elections.
Option D: The United Progression Alliance is incorrect.

Thus, option (C) is correct.

Note: The other largest coalition apart from UPA is the NDA or the National Democratic Alliance with BJP (Bharatiya Janata Party) heading as the largest party in the coalition. They have won three Lok Sabha general elections since their inception in 1998 namely the 1999, 2014 and 2019 general elections.